This Trippy Op Art Mural Is Actually a Reminder That Tragedy Can Strike Anywhere

Dutch artist Jeroen Bisscheroux recently unveiled POOL, loss of color in Osaka, Japan. The piece is a mind-bending heart-wrenching optical illusion of a vanishing pool. But its significance as a work of art extends beyond its incredible feat of perspective.

The mural functions as an emotional tapestry, weaving two Japanese tragedies together in one image: the tsunami in Sendai and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Bisscheroux worked on a large scale in order to portray the humbling relation humans have to their larger environment. By choosing to represent these two disasters as a pool, something that many people have in their own backyards, the artist conveys the message that tragedies don’t just strike on the opposite end of the globe; they can happen anywhere at anytime to anyone, even in the safety of your own community.